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Great Jedi Purge
The Great Jedi Purge, later also known as Palpatine's Purge, referred to the efforts initiated by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious upon his creation of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY to eradicate the Jedi Order. It resulted in the near-annihilation of the Jedi, as it had been with the First Jedi Purge that occurred after the Jedi Civil War in 3,956 BBY. The purge officially began with Order 66 following a botched attempt by Mace Windu and three other Jedi to arrest the chancellor. The order declared the Jedi enemies of the Republic and ordered the Grand Army of the Republic to turn on them. Sidious, now Emperor of the Galactic Empire, used Vader and other agents of the Empire to hunt down and kill the remaining Jedi. Some Jedi fought the Empire until their deaths, like Roan Shryne and those at the Conclave on Kessel. Others hid from the Empire, like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. In the nineteen years that followed Order 66, many Jedi fell to Vader, Inquisitors, Emperor's Hands, and even bounty hunters. By 1 BBY, so small a number of Jedi remained that the Emperor, considering the Jedi to be no longer a threat, put an end to the Purge. Palpatine wasted no time in declaring that the Jedi's attempt to take him into custody constituted a betrayal to the Republic by the Order, and used it to justify his ultimate goals. Palpatine ordered the Grand Army of the Republic to execute Order 66—the total annihilation of all Jedi "traitors" throughout the entire galaxy as a sign that the age of the Jedi had ended and the New Order was now in place.2 In addition to the Jedi's attempt to arrest Palpatine, another reason cited for wiping out the order was the argument that they were complicit in starting the Clone Wars to destabilize the galaxy and overthrow the government. Facts cited in support of this argument included the Jedi involvement in initiating the creation of the clone army without authorization from the Senate, and the role of former Jedi Count Dooku in forming the Separatist movement Simultaneously, Palpatine dispatched Vader and the 501st Legion to eradicate all the Jedi in their Temple on Coruscant. The newly-titled Emperor justified his purge with an elaborate conspiracy tale of the Jedi's attempt to take control of the Republic by assassinating the head of government, usurping the clone army's control, and even killing all members in the Galactic Senate, using tampered security recordings of his battle with Mace Windu as evidence.14 The Empire estimated that less than one hundred Jedi escaped the betrayal of Vader and the clone troopers that they were leading during the course of the war.5 Among the few survivors were Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi, Rahm Kota, Yoda, K'Kruhk, T'ra Saa and Quinlan Vos.1 Many Jedi that did survive, like Kai Hudorra and Roan Shryne, cast aside their lightsabers, realizing that their roles as keepers of the peace were over. Other Jedi, such as Olee Starstone and Dass Jennir, kept fighting the Empire, and tried to contact the other Jedi.3 Kenobi, and Yoda secretly escaped to Tatooine, and Dagobah, respectively. Rham Kota secretly attacked many Imperial shipments and traveled all over the galaxy being a thorn in the side of the Empire. However, before hiding, Obi-Wan and Yoda altered a return call being sent from the Temple into a warning to stay away; as a result, several other Jedi managed to survive the immediate purge.1 Most survivors fell to Vader, but some others fell to Jedi hunters, including the Emperor's Hands, Dark Jedi, and even a couple of bounty hunters